Make government accountable

It is time for Cedar Rapids to return to a commission form of government. The previous form was more accountable and responsive. Lavish spending on downtown projects continues with the current administration, while any questions, concerns or protests at city council meetings are met with a bureaucratic wall of silence.

No question, the flood necessitated projects of recovery, but the council moved far beyond goals of recovery, spending on a variety of bells and whistles to placate downtown investors while perpetual criticism of deteriorating infrastructure was ignored. Coldpatching is now a decade-old maintenance favorite. Every year we see an increase in taxes, levies, fees and revenue-producing fines despite years of a bad economy, inflation, devaluation of the dollar and high energy costs. The council seems to pay no heed to patterns of spending that have led other U.S. cities to the brink of bankruptcy.

It is time to return to a form a government that is accountable and financially responsible.

Ronald Boyer

Cedar Rapids